Under head coach Sheldon Keefe, the New Jersey Devils are learning lessons on the fly. One of this young team’s biggest lessons is not to cheat the game. What we mean by that is to stick to the system and game plan regardless of the score. That is what the good teams do and how they are so successful. Just ask Devils captain Nico Hischier after the team’s victory over the weekend against the Islanders after they surrendered two quick goals and had to come from behind for the win.
“It was a little punch in the face, for sure, when we got scored on and then scored on again, 3-1, especially when you knew, like, you were playing a good game, and we were cheating there a little bit,” Hischier said.
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New Jersey learned those lessons as they went through the School of Hard Knocks after not sticking to its game plan against the Calgary Flames two weeks ago on its Western Canada road trip. After two former Devils connected on the opening goal with a little over five minutes left in the third period when Blake Coleman made it 1-0 on a deflected shot from Yegor Sharangovich, you knew the Devils had the offensive talent to come back.
It was a hard-fought defensive battle between the Flames and the Devils. Again, the blueprint is out on how to beat this young Devils team: Take their time and space when the Devils break out of the zone and limit the stretch pass. The Hurricanes set that blueprint back in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, so it was clear what the Flames were trying to do.
Now the Devils had chances to score, but Flames goaltender Dan Vladar was excellent, including stopping Jack Hughes on a breakaway in the second period. Clearly, the Devils deserved a better fate in the third period holding the Flames without a goal for 55 minutes. But in a blink of an eye, it was 2-0.
Johnathan Kovacevic pinches as the Devils are looking for the equalizer. The puck takes a bad bounce off the boards, and the Flames go up the ice on a 2-on-1. Jonathan Huberdeau finishes it to make it 2-0 in 28 seconds. That lesson was hard in sticking with the game and not trying to cheat for offense. Also, if you look at Coleman’s first goal, Luke Hughes lost his man, Coleman.
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Again those little details are the difference between a good and a great team. Things could have ended similarly over the weekend against the New York Islanders. Again, there are a couple of breakdowns on the Islander’s first goal by Simon Holmstrom, where he is left wide open in front of the net, and Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom is asked to do the impossible.
The Devils eventually tied the game, but New Jersey gave up two goals in five minutes with about 10 minutes to go. While the Dennis Cholowski goal was just a good shot, Brock Nelson‘s third goal, scored by Nelson, was cheating the game. Nelson got behind the Devils’ defense to make it 3-1.
But instead of trying to cheat for more offense, the Devils stuck with it. Dawson Mercer started things, and that momentum led to the Stefan Noesen-tying goal.
“I think we played a good game, and we just stuck with it,” Nico Hischier said after the game. “I think that was the most important thing in that game. You stick to the process and get rewarded at the end.”
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The Devils were getting goalied like they were in Calgary, with Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin standing on his head. It challenges a team mentally as they look for more ways to score. But good teams stick with their system and know those breaks will come.
“No, it’s not easy. It’s definitely not easy. But that’s the mental part of the game,” Hischier said. “I think try not to get too frustrated. Just keep going. Like I said, just stick with it. Do the right things over and over again, and then things like at the end happen it goes off the skate, and that’s hockey at the end. So just, you can’t get frustrated. You just gotta keep going, keep doing the right things, and not cheat the game.”
The Devils had to use that mindset against the San Jose Sharks and their former teammate Mackenzie Blackwood. Blackwood frustrated the Devils players. Instead of shooting in the open lanes, they overpassed.
Though they could not get the equalizer, they were able to stick with their game and keep the game close enough to win and within striking distance to tie the game and potentially force overtime. New Jersey failed in that aspect. However, the Devils thrived because they did not shy away from the structure on back-to-back nights.
